Morocco qualifies for World Cup, Ivory Coast misses out

Cote d'Ivoire needed an outright win to qualify while a draw would still have been enough for Morocco, but two first half goals by Nabil Dirar and Medhi Benatia sealed the victory for the visitors.

Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt had previously sealed their spots in Russian Federation next year.

The qualification of Morocco and Tunisia signaled an apparent shift in African soccer, giving North Africa three teams at the World Cup and more than any other region for the first time since 1986.

Tunisia and Morocco have completed the roster of teams that would represent Africa at the Russian Federation 2018 World Cup.

West Africa has dominated Africa's contingent at the World Cup in recent years but some of its big names missed out this time: Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana, all African champions multiple times, won't be in Russian Federation.

Morocco will make their first appearance at the global finals since France 1998, while Tunisia make their World Cup return for the first time since Germany 2006.

Immediately after Morocco's national team secured it qualification to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Moroccans of NY flocked to Steinway street in Astoria to celebrate this victory.

DR Congo, meanwhile, had needed Libya to pull off a shock win to give them hope of making it to Russian Federation, but were left disappointed despite a 3-1 win over Guinea in Kinshasa, scoring twice in stoppage time.

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